Processes of the enterprise architecture

The management defines the objectives and expectations of the enterprise architecture that guide the development and implementation of its processes.

The management ensures that there are sufficient resources to develop and maintain the enterprise architecture, such as budget and personnel.

The management acts as a sponsor of the enterprise architecture, providing ongoing support and encouragement at all levels of the organisation to understand and promote the importance of the enterprise architecture

The management monitors and evaluates the progress of enterprise architecture processes to ensure their effectiveness and timely resolution of potential problems.

Each stage is implemented as a separate project, which provides a clear structure, schedule and objective for the development of enterprise architecture. This model is best suited for extensive architectural development entities, such as programmes and projects.

The stages take place in several recurring cycles, allowing more flexibility and continuous improvement. This model is suitable for dynamic environments and is suitable for organisations that use agile methods.

The strategic architecture team has overall management responsibility, but the implementation is divided between different units, groups or teams. This model is particularly suitable for large organisations where units manage their own entities.

All stages are continuously updated as part of daily operations without separate projects. This model is suitable for mature organisations where architectural development is established as part of the normal operating model.

Combination of several other approaches. For example, the definition of the target state is implemented as a project, but implementation and monitoring as an agile or continuous activity. This model provides flexibility and adapts to the needs of different phases.

Management is responsible for assigning architectural responsibilities within the organisation and for monitoring the status of architecture development. Architectural governance is exercised through management decisions. Key tasks include: 

• strategic steering of architecture 
• approval of architectural principles 
• policy on reference architectures used in architecture work 
• approval of the architecture management model 
• high-level assignments related to enterprise architecture and approval of their outputs 
   

Service and product owners maintain product/service/system descriptions and provide this information as well as a financial perspective for architectural design. 

The titles and tasks of architects vary by organisation. In some cases, an enterprise architect can perform a wide range of architectural roles, while in some cases there are architects specialising in different areas of architecture. For example, the following titles are commonly used: 

• The principal architect is responsible for the whole (EA function) and for architectural communication, which also requires communications professionals. The principal architect should be close to management in the organisational structure. The enterprise architect is responsible for describing the enterprise architecture at EA level and for ensuring that it complies with the strategic objectives. The division of responsibilities between the principal architect and the enterprise architect may vary from organisation to organisation. There may be one principal architect who is also an enterprise architect and represents all perspectives. A typical established model is that the principal architect is an enterprise architect. 
   
• A business architect is responsible for raising the needs of their area of responsibility in accordance with enterprise architecture processes and methods, and for supporting other ICT personnel in development work. A business architect is responsible for describing and developing the activities, processes and capabilities of the organisation. The role ensures that changes in operations are in line with the strategy and that they are consistently linked to information, application and technology architectures.
   
• A solution architect is responsible for an individual solution or entity to be developed and its architecture at all levels and from all perspectives (operations, information, applications, technology). The role ensures that the solution is compatible with enterprise architecture policies and meets the set operational and technical requirements. 
  
• A service architect is responsible for the structure, service chains, interfaces and lifecycle management of the service collections in accordance with the principles of enterprise architecture. The role ensures that the services are user-oriented, clear and interoperable and support the strategic and operational goals of the organisation. A service architect may also work as a service designer, in which case the area of responsibility includes deepening the user understanding of services, designing customer journeys and service experiences, and developing services together with stakeholders. In this case, service design serves as a means of concretising architectural policies and ensuring that service solutions are functional in practice and meet the needs of users.
  
• An information architect is responsible for defining information structures, concepts, data models and data flows, as well as for the interoperability of information. The role ensures that the information supports operations, analytics and reporting and complies with agreed standards and policies.
   
• An application architect is responsible for the structure, integrations and inter-application dependencies of the application portfolio. The application architect ensures that the applications support services and processes and comply with architecture policies and technical principles.
  
• An information security architect is responsible for developing the organisation’s information security together with the information security officer and the data protection officer.
  
• A technology or infrastructure architect is responsible for technology and infrastructure solutions as a whole, and for their policies and lifecycle management. The role often focuses on line work, such as the maintenance, monitoring and development of technologies, and typically involves less project work. The position may be consultant-led, but also the responsibility of the authority.
  
• The person responsible for enterprise architecture quality and development ensures compliance with the methodology. 

The party responsible for enterprise architecture is also responsible for engaging digital security experts in the different work processes. Roles responsible for digital security, such as information security managers, information security architects and data protection officers, should be included in all stages of the process in accordance with their respective areas of responsibility and competence.  

An information security manager is responsible for the information security architecture. Information security specialists describe and maintain information security architecture. In architecture design, they define information security requirements. Similarly, they use enterprise architecture descriptions when assessing information security.  

The data protection officer and other data protection specialists serve as specialists in the specification of the architecture and check the implementation of data protection requirements at different stages of development. They also use enterprise architecture descriptions when assessing data protection. They play a key role in defining the data resources and datasets of the information management model, as the basis and interpretations for them come from data protection regulation (GDPR).  

The specialists responsible for the information management model are responsible for its information management component and its maintenance. The information management model is part of the enterprise architecture, but its purpose is different. 

Information management specialists are responsible for the life cycle management of datasets and produce content especially for data architecture (e.g. information management plan, archive formation plan, task classification and other descriptions of data resources/datasets). They play a key role in defining the data resources and datasets of the information management model, as the basis and interpretations for them come from the act on information management in public administration and archival legislation.